Ekhosuehi Iyahen serves as Secretary General of the Insurance Development Forum (IDF), a leading global public–private partnership that brings together the insurance industry, the United Nations, the World Bank Group, and other international institutions to scale the use of insurance and risk financing in strengthening climate and disaster resilience worldwide.
A recognised authority in disaster risk financing, she is known for her strategic judgement, diplomatic acumen, and ability to translate complex policy ambition into implementable, multi-country programmes that deliver measurable impact. Under her leadership, the IDF has been a driver of pioneering collaborations that expand financial protection for millions of people in climate- and disaster-exposed economies. Notable initiatives include the Tripartite Agreement with UNDP and the Government of Germany to expand insurance protection across 20 countries; the Global Risk Modelling Alliance, developed with V20 Finance Ministers to strengthen risk analytics where it is most needed; and the Infrastructure Resilience Development Fund (IRDF), launched with Global Infrastructure Partners (BlackRock) to mobilise private capital for resilient infrastructure across emerging markets.
Prior to joining the IDF, Ekhosuehi played a formative role in shaping the global disaster risk financing landscape. She was instrumental in the establishment of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) and later the African Risk Capacity (ARC)—two of the world’s first and leading regional sovereign risk pools, which today remain central pillars of climate and disaster resilience financing in the Caribbean and Africa. Her work has helped define global best practice in parametric risk financing, intergovernmental collaboration, and the deployment of market-based solutions for sovereign disaster response.
In addition to her operational leadership, Ekhosuehi has contributed to global policy and thought leadership through publications and engagements with leading institutions, including the Brookings Institution, where her work has informed international discourse on risk finance, resilience, and the role of insurance in development.
She holds academic credentials from the London School of Economics, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and the University of the West Indies. Her professional distinctions include recognition as a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Centre Resident Practitioner Fellow (2018) and inclusion in Leaders Magazine’s Top 100 Global Resilience Thought Leaders (2020). She has also served as a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council (2021–2023) and as a member of the Wellcome Trust’s inaugural Climate Impacts Advisory Committee (2023). She is currently a Steering Committee member of the WaterAid Investment Lighthouse and an Advisor to Hera – a global climate adaptation NGO with a mission to protect the health, income and dignity of women in the frontlines of extreme heat.